OTTAWA Manhattan and mad cow may seem an unlikely combination butAgriculture Minister Andy Mitchell will be mixing the two Saturday whenhe travels to New York City to meet his American counterpart to lobbyfor an end to the costly mad cow crisis.

Before leaving, Mitchell tried to dampen expectations among desperateproducers that the U.S. border might swing open quickly following hisfirst face-to-face meeting with U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman.

"I think I'll measure the results (of the session) in terms ofestablishing a relationship," Mitchell said in an interview shortlybefore meeting Veneman, who is in New York for next week's RepublicanParty convention.

"But I am going to take the opportunity to state the Canadian positionbecause I think it cannot be stated enough," added Mitchell, who tookover the agriculture portfolio right after the June 28 federal election.

"From our perspective, the science indicates that the border should beopen."

The meeting comes as Ottawa has started to drop broad hints that as thecrisis drags on, more emergency aid could be coming for thecash-strapped industry.

Ralph Goodale, the federal finance minister from southern Saskatchewan,has been suggesting recently that he might shake open Ottawa's piggy bank.

In March, just before the last federal budget, Ottawa announced a$1-billion farm aid package that included $680 million in relief forcattle producers. That also included a pledge from Goodale of more helpif the border remained closed "for a protracted period."

Goodale is now repeating that pledge to help cope with mad cow -- "aserious issue not just for producers but a serious issue for the country."

However, he isn't saying yet just how much aid might be made available.

"I'm not in a position now to put a dollar figure on the situation,"said Goodale.

"But we've got to be prepared to stand by our producers through thisincredibly difficult period which is not at all of their making."

That's good news for the Canadian Cattlemen's Association, which hasdeveloped a long-term plan including emergency cash aid as well asinitiatives for boosting slaughter capacity, loan guarantees and marketexpansion.

> "From our perspective, the science indicates that the border should be

> open."

ONE minute they say it's an integrated system, then the next minute they say something like, oh, that Washington mad cowwas a Canadian cow, we've had no home grown in USA, when we allknow that North America bovines have TSE and have had TSE for decades, no doubt about that now. but they would not know(?) better word ''admit''science if it bit them in the butt. nope, sss policy and save the industry at all cost, including human health...